


After the Storm

by Cy_Fi_TheAnswerIs42



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 1987), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Astraphobia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, I hope that's all the tags this needs, Panic Attacks, Storms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-15 06:35:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19607401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cy_Fi_TheAnswerIs42/pseuds/Cy_Fi_TheAnswerIs42
Summary: If there was one thing Raphael hated, it was storms.Tw: for storms, astraphobia, and panic attacks





	After the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> I have literally only watched 3 or 4 episodes of 1987 but I wrote this for a friend because this is his favorite series right now. Hopefully I didn't butcher their characterizations too badly, lol

He _hated_ thunderstorms.

It wasn’t the increased water levels that made certain parts of the sewers more dangerous, or the lightning, since they were all underground that part didn’t even matter.

It was the thunder that set Raphael on edge.

Booming thunder that echoed through the sewers, sometimes shaking dust off the pipes, or made it float down from the ceiling, and as each clap shook his home, Raphael couldn’t help but imagine the worst, couldn’t help the spike of fear that shot through him. It made him want to curl up, to hide from the sounds that sent his heart racing, to stop being afraid that the roof would come crashing down and just feel _safe_.

He hated that it made him feel that way too, so on edge and jittery, instead of the snarky and sarcastic guy he usually was. It was so far from his usual self and it just felt _wrong_. He was supposed to be unshakable, and yet some loud noises had him hiding away.

How sad was that?

So here he was, curled up in a corner of his room, covering his ears as he flinched at every crash of thunder that shook the Lair because _he just wanted the sounds to stop, please stop, please stop._ Raphael tried focusing on the sound of his breathing, tried keeping it even and steady even though it hitched and shook because of that damned noise.

“Raphael?” 

The sound, though muffled, caused Raphael’s head to shoot up from where it had been resting against his knees. Leonardo stood in the doorway, concern plain as day on his face as he looked towards him. 

“H-hey, Leonardo.” Raphael responded, unable to hide the nervousness in his voice. “How’s it going?”

“I’d say it was going well, if you weren’t looking terrified right now.” Leonardo answered as he walked towards him, kneeling next to his brother. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, why would you think somethi-” Raphael cut off with a yelp as a loud **bang** shot through the lair, dust raining down on them, the walls shaking with the resulting echo. Raphael buried his face back against his knees, tried to slow the panicked gasps as his heart raced, slammed his hands back over his ears, just _tried to stay calm_.

“Raphael? Hey, Raphael, it’s alright, you’re safe.” Raphael felt hands cover his own as his head was tilted upwards, and made eye contact with Leonardo. “Look at me, it’ll be alright, let’s focus on slowing down your breathing, alright? In for 4, hold for 2, out for 4, repeat.”

Raphael nodded, kept his eyes on Leo, and followed as his brother counted breaths.

“In, two, three, four. Hold, two. Out, two, three, four. In, two, three, four. Hold, two. Out, two, three, four. In, two, three, four…”

They sat there, counting breaths, Raphael flinching at each new peal of thunder and Leonardo squeezing his hands in reassurance, for an immeasurable amount of time, the thunder slowly growing quieter and quieter, until is was barely a rumble, and then gone entirely.

After a cautious minute of listening for more thunder, Leonardo removed his hands, lowered them to his brother’s shoulders instead, and gave another reassuring squeeze.

“Alright Raphael, I think it’s alright now.”

Slowly Raphael took his hands off his ears, and after hearing no new sounds, relaxed, muscles that had been clenched and trembling for so long now weak. He slumped back against the wall and gave Leonardo what was no doubt a tired smile.

“Ok Leonardo, I’m fine now, you can go off and do some training now or something.”

“Yeah, no, I’m not doing that.” Leonardo scoffed. As he began to stand, he quickly scooped up Raphael and began walking towards the door.

“Hey, Leonardo, what’s the big idea, what are you-” Raphael’s squawking was interrupted as he was unceremoniously dumped on the couch next to Michelangelo who looked on in confusion.

“Michelangelo, don’t let him leave, I’m going to get Donatello and as many blankets as possible and we’re all going to watch some movies together.”

“That sounds A-OK to me.” Michelangelo responded with a smile, draping himself across Raphael’s lap. Leonardo nodded in approval at the youngest’s antics, a slight smile on this face, and then walked off.

“Michelangelo, get off of me, this is _completely_ unnecessary!”

“No can do Raphael, you heard Leonardo, this is where you stay.”

“You know I could just roll you right off the couch, right?”

“Oh yeah, but _would_ you Raphael, would you _really_ do that to your youngest brother?” With that Michelangelo looked up at him with wide eyes, doing his best impersonation of a kicked puppy.

“...No, I wouldn’t.” Raphael sighed, leaning back against the couch and waiting.

Soon after, Leonardo returned with a slightly put-off looking Donatello in tow. Some sign of what had happened must have been displayed on Raphael’s face though, because as Donatello looked at his red-clad brother, still pinned to the couch by Michelangelo, his face softened slightly before he moved towards the couch.

“Alright Michelangelo, job well done, you can get off him now.” Leonardo said.

“Darn it, and I was just getting comfortable.” The moment Michelangelo was gone, a blanket took his place, which was quickly spread across him by Leonardo himself.

“Really Leonardo, wrapping me up in a blanket? What are you going to do next, read me a bedtime story?” Raphael couldn’t help but quip, even though he pulled the blanket tighter and enjoyed the feeling of comfort it brought.

“No, we’re going to watch some movies. Do you have the remote Michelangelo?”

“Of course oh great leader of ours.” Michelangelo responded.

“Great, find a movie we’ll all like. Donatello, take a seat and help me spread out the remaining blankets.” With that Leonardo plopped onto the couch next to Raphael while Donatello took the other side, and Michelangelo took the corner next to Donatello. 

Quickly the blankets were spread across the four of them, and the sounds of a movie began drifting from the TV. Between the exhaustion from his earlier panic, the comfort of the blankets wrapped securely around him, the TV, and the safely that came from having his brothers surrounding him, Raphael quickly felt himself drifting off.

Now, he was safe.


End file.
